“bursting with determination and optimism. These essays by beginning farmers are chatty, colorful reports that made me laugh and left me in awe of all the hard work that goes into growing our food. The farmers revel in simple pleasures and big challenges.”

Zoë Ida Bradbury runs a farm in Oregon with her mother and sister, using a team of draft horses to cultivate more than 100 crops for local restaurants, food banks, and a community-supported agriculture program. She is a Food & Society Policy Fellow and has written extensively about agricultural issues for magazines and newspapers. She is an editor of Greenhorns.

Severine von Tscharner Fleming farms in New York's Hudson Valley. She is founder and director of Greenhorns, an organization that works nationally to promote, support, and recruit young farmers. Severine cofounded the National Young Farmers' Coalition and directed the documentary film The Greenhorns.

Paula Manalo comanages Mendocino Organics, a biodynamic farm in northern California. She is a founding member of Greenhorns, an organization that works nationally to promote, support, and recruit young farmers, and she is on the board of directors of the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association.